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Chapter Text

The girl washed her face and brushed her hair before looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her brown hair was straight, but that was her usual look anyway, and her puppy eyes just weren't hiding how tired she was.

She put on her uniform that consisted of a red plaid skirt, white button up, tie, and the jacket. She brushed her hair once again before walking into the hallway and down the stairs.

"Leeso-ya! Breakfast is ready! Hurry up, kid!" a voice called her just when she reached the bottom of the stairs, and she rolled her eyes.

She loved her family but they loved to give her lots of nicknames. After 18 years of nicknames, she had already lost count of how many she had.

"I'm here." She said, entering the kitchen and smiling at the familiar scene before her eyes.

Hyunseo Ahn-Jang could use a lot of words to describe her family but if you asked him to choose just one, she would say 'unique'.

Not because she had two mothers. No. Those kinds of families weren't even uncommon anymore. It was the relationship between them that made her family so special.

Her mom was a successful writer and psychologist, which meant she was usually concerned about the discipline and order. Ahn Yujin was known as a woman with a strong, bubbly personality, but her family was her weakness and she managed to relax a lot around them. Hyunseo loved to practice dancing with her, since she had been a trainee when she was younger. She also looked a lot like her mom, but that was pretty much where their similarities ended.

Hyunseo was often told she and her mom were so much alike, but she felt her personality was a lot like her other mother .Jang Wonyoung, eomma for her kids, was the perfect contrast to her wife's serious, feisty personality. Although she was now a well-known music producer,songwriter, and kpop idol, she always kept a carefree, childlike personality, smiling and making jokes. She was also really good at embarrassing Hyunseo in front of her friends by calling her all sorts of names.

But Hyunseo didn't mind. She was used to her family and anyway, people knew more about her and her family than one would expect. The reason behind this was that her mothers had been, many years ago, part of the biggest girl group of all time. Diamond Eyes.

So, people knew about them and their story and their family. No matter how hard they had tried to have a quiet life to raise Hyunseo when she was born, their success was something they would never get rid of completely.

"Sumin, stop making a mess." Wonyoung pouted at the 3-year-old baby, "Eomma will have to clean up everything."

"Hyunseo-unnie!" Sumin yelled, excited to see her big sister.

"Hey mom, hey eomma," Hyunseo sat at the table and grabbed the box of cereal, "Hey, Sumin."

"Honey, I have a meeting today, so your eomma is taking Sumin with her to the studio the whole day, okay?" Yujin informed while checking her phone.

"Sure."

Hyunseo usually picked up her sister from Wonyoung’s studio and took her home, where Yujin usually worked, but she was glad she didn't have to do it that day because she had plans after school.

"Is it okay if I go see Professor Byun after school? I need some help with a project."

Professor Byun was a scientist who worked as a teacher in a university. He was a family friend and Hyunseo loved visiting him because his place was always full of crazy gadgets and nonsense. And he was in his late forties but he was single, so he enjoyed the visits of the young girl that he had known since she was a baby.

"Are you going to come back late?" her eomma asked while trying to get Sumin to focus on her breakfast. The little girl just wouldn't stay quiet.

"Nope."

"Okay, no problem, then."

Minutes later, Yujin grabbed her bag and car keys, getting ready to leave.

"Bye babe," she gave her wife a peck on the lips and then she kissed Sumin's head, "Bye princess."

Hyunseo put on her backpack and kissed Wonyuong and Sumin goodbye before following her mom.

"Amma, can I ask you something?" she asked when they were outside the house.

"Sure, Hyun, what is it?" Yujin turned and focused her attention on her older daughter.

"It's just that I have been feeling weird lately."

"Weird? What do you mean? Do you feel sick?" her voice sounded concerned now and she placed her hand on her forehead.

"No, no, mom, I'm fine," the girl reassured her, "It's just a strange feeling, as if something is going to happen. I don't know how to explain it."

Yujin saw her confused expression and pulled her into a hug, "Oh, baby, I think I know what's going on."

"You do?" Hyunseo asked, smiling at the nickname since she was already as tall than her moms.

"You've just turned 18 and you're graduating soon. That affects the way a person feels about life," She said seriously, "You just need to talk about it and you'll feel better."

"Mom, stop analyzing me, please." she joked, "I'm your daughter, not your patient."

"Very funny," Yujin pushed her affectionately, "But I'm serious, though. Think about it. You know you can talk to me and your eomma about anything."

"I know."

"Okay, now give you mom a kiss and go to school."

Hyunseo sighed jokingly and kissed her mom on the cheek before walking to her car. She wondered if her mom was right and what she was feeling was just she freaking out about growing up.

Although deep inside she knew there was something else.

-------

"Come in, girl." Professor Byun greeted her that afternoon. "I'm glad you could make it."

"I wasn't going to miss this for the world." Hyunseo dropped his backpack and walked into the basement, "Not after listening about it for months."

Professor Byun was really enthusiastic about science and Hyunseo loved that, so she had listened to him theorizing for months about his lifetime project. Time travel.

It had sounded insane at first, but then the Professor had reminded Hyunseo that the same had been said about two women having a baby and there she was, half Ahn and half Jang. There was no way to argue that.

"I have finally finished the box and I think once I manage to get the settings right, my machine will be ready." The tall man said as he pointed at the big glass box in the middle of the room.

"Can I go inside?" Hyunseo touched the box with her fingertips.

"Why not? Let's go!" Professor Byun said excitedly and pushed her inside the box before entering himself. "Look." She pointed at the machinery on one of the glass walls, "Once I get the right amount of energy to power this up, the box will work as a ch-"

Before he could finish his explanation, the whole floor shook and they were thrown to the glass walls of the box.

An earthquake.

They lived in Los Angeles, so earthquakes weren't rare. But this one was a strong one and even the lights flickered a little. The earth shook for long seconds that felt like hours until the movement finally stopped.

Hyunseo and the professor had been quiet during the tremor but they were both pale and shaky. As soon as it was over, both of them stepped out of the box asking each other if they were okay.

"I need to check if my family is okay." Hyunseo pulled out her phone and called Wonyoung, because she knew no one was home.

The phone rang but nobody replied. Maybe she was busy with Sumin, Hyunseo though, so she called Yujin. But the same happened.

"They are not answering their phones." She said nervously.

"Maybe the phone lines are down," the Professor explained while he checked that all this experiment and devices were okay.

"I need to go."

Hyunseo didn't wait for an answer and left. She had a bad feeling. And it was not about the earthquake. This was exactly what she had been feeling lately but ten times worse.

She arrived to her house and opened the door as fast as she could with shaking hands.

"Eomma? Mom?" he called out, "Sumin-ah?"

Nobody replied. She was about to leave when she realized something.

This wasn't her house.

The rooms were in the right place, and the stairs were in the right place, but everything else was just wrong.

There were no family pictures on the walls. Her sister's toys were not in the living where they always were. Her mom's office was empty and there were no instruments in her eomma's home studio.

She panicked and ran to her car.

-------

Professor Byun couldn't believe his eyes. What the monitor in front of him was showing just couldn't be true.

But it was.

He had checked and double checked and triple checked the data and there was no mistake. The earthquake had not been an ordinary earthquake. A huge amount of energy had been released around the area where Hyunseo's family lived.

He spent the next hour running from one side of the other in his basement lab, and he was getting worried with each passing minute.

Just when he was about to call Hyunseo, he saw her at the door. She was pale and sweaty and her eyes were unfocused.

"Hyunseo? What happened?"

"They're gone." She replied in a quiet voice.

"What do you mean they're gone?" the professor asked, although he already knew the answer.

"I looked for them everywhere. At home, at mom's office, at my eomma's studio. They're gone," her voice cracked, "And the house is different, like it's not my house. And they're gone."

Professor Byun grabbed the girl by the arm and sat her on a chair.

"Listen to me, Hyuunseo," he started, "after you left I ran some programs to study the earthquake and they showed that a huge amount of energy was released around the area of your house."

Hyunseo's eyes finally focused on the scientist's eyes, "What does that mean?"

"I've only read theories about these events. They are called 'time fluctuations' and it is said that when energy is released like this on or around someone, it can change a person's timeline completely. And I think your mother, Yujin, was home when this happened."

"I checked information on both your mothers as soon as I realized where the energy had been released and," he didn't know how to explain this because he barely understood, "their lives have changed. Your mothers met but never got married."

"What?!" Hyunseo stood up, "How is that possible? I mean; I am here."

"I know, and I think that is because you were inside the box. We were both isolated inside, so we weren't hit with that fluctuation energy. But it will get us soon."

"I'm confused." Hyunseo's hands went to her head.

"Your mothers never got together according to this new timeline that has been created. They never got married and they never had you." The scientist pointed at his screen.

"So, I don't exist?"

"You do. But if we don't fix this-" he couldn't stop the sentence because it was such a horrible idea.

"Okay," Hyunseo's stared pacing around the room, trying to let the new information sink in. Time had changed, she needed to fix it or else he would stop existing. She needed to get his family back, "How do we fix this, then?"

Professor Byun smiled at the girl's determination and started looking for the devices he needed.

"Take this," he handed the young girl a watch and a phone.

"What's this?"

"This is a time machine."

In any other situation Hyunseo would have laughed. But right then she just didn't know how to react, "What? But I thought the box was your machine."

"No, my boy." Professor Byun shook his head, " The box is just an energy channel. It absorbs energy and directs it to the actual time machine," he pointed at the phone and the watch, "And guess what it has just absorbed."

"The energy of the earthquake." Hyunseo said.

"Exactly! Now, you can travel in time!"

"Okay, let's imagine that makes sense," Hyunseo put on the watch, "How do we know where do I need to go?"

"You mean when you need to go." The older man clarified, "I thought about that too and I found the answer in the time machine itself."

Hyunseo looked at the phone. It looked like a old classic iPhone until she turned it on and saw all the unusual lines and numbers on the screen. There were three green vertical lines and some numbers below them.

"One-two-three-one-one-five," she read aloud.

"It's a date," the scientist pointed out, "December 31st, 2019. I believe that's when the fluctuation happened. So, you need to go a little before that to fix it."

"Me? You're not coming?"

"I could meet myself and create a paradox. We don't need that right now."

Hyunseo breathed deeply. She was going to be alone in the past. Five years before she was born.

"I'm scared," She confessed.

"I know, but your family needs you." Professor Byun put his hands on the girl's arms, trying to comfort her, "Your mothers are such brave and intelligent women and I know you're just as brave and intelligent. You're going to be fine."

Huyunseo nodded. Shehad to do this. For her mothers and for her little sister, "Tell me what to do."

The professor explained as clear as he could what he knew and what he thought had to be done. He explained Hyunseo where and when he was going to go and what was happening in her mothers' lives around that time. Most of his theories were approximations but he was confident his machine would work. He had spent years working on it.

"If all my calculations are correct, you'll meet a young version of me," he reached for a big red backpack and put some papers inside, "Give him the note I've just put in this backpack and he'll help you. You may answer some of his questions but don't give away too much information of our time."

Hyunseo nodded and put on the backpack, "What if I don't meet 'younger you'?"

"You have to. That's the only way to get to Yujin and Wonyoung. Otherwise it will be impossible to fix whatever fluctuation the earthquake caused. Ready?"

The professor saw the girl stepping into the glass box and nodding. He typed the necessary data in the computer in front of him and gave her a thumbs up.

Hyunseo used her shaky index finger to move one of the green lines in his phone from the number 31 to the number 14. The professor had said he had to stay enough time to make the plan work, but not too long so the new timeline would fix itself and erase her.

Once she had done everything, she saw light coming from the walls of the box and she closed her eyes. It was happening. She was traveling to the past.

This was her only chance to get her family back. Get ger life back.

She felt a pull in the center of her stomach and then her body was surrounded by static energy that made her whole body shiver. It lasted for about ten seconds and then suddenly it was over.

She was thrown against a wall. But this wall wasn't made of glass as she was expecting.

She opened her eyes and looked around. The room was dark but once she got used to the darkness around her, she saw a small lounge. She was about to move, when the door opened and the lights turned on.

"Who the hell are you?"

Hyunseo froze. She knew that voice. And she knew that face. Except that this face was much younger than she remembered.

Two pair of puppy eyes met. In front of her, standing with a shocked face, was a younger version of her mom. Ahn Yujin.

The machine had worked.

Chapter Text

"Who the hell are you?"

Hyunseo stood up straight and ran a hand through her hair, nervously, "I-uhm," she cleared her throat, trying to organize the thoughts in her head, "I am looking for Byun Baekhyun. I'm her friend."

Yujin raised an eyebrow and scanned her from head to toes. Hyunseo shifted in her spot. She had always hated when her mom did that because she knew she was analyzing her, but this was different. This was a younger version of her mom and she didn't even know who she was.

"Okay," Yujin said, still staring at her suspiciously, "What's your name?"

"I'm Hyunseo," she answered quickly.

Yujin furrowed her eyebrows and Hyunseo wanted to slam her head against the wall. Was she supposed to say her real name? The professor had never mentioned that.

"Well, Hyunseo," the young woman repeated her name slowly, almost amused by it, "how did you end up in a dark dressing room?"

"Is this your dressing room?" Hyunseo looked around, "I'm so sorry, I was lost and I started opening doors randomly. I couldn't find the light switch."

Hyunseo congratulated herself. She had come up with that lie faster than she expected.  And just when Yujin was about to reply, someone appeared at the door, next to her.

"Yujin-unnie, we ne- wait, who's that?" the newly arrived girl asked, "I didn't know your relatives were visiting you."

The older girl turned to look at her friend with a confused expression on her face and Hyunseo felt a blush creeping on her face.

"Rei, she's not my relative," Yujin said, confirming the information Hyunseo had guessed the moments he saw the other girl. She was Rei, her aunt Rei, "She was looking for Baekhyun sunbae and got lost."

"Oh, okay, sorry," Rei laughed, "You look so much alike."

Hyunseo hadn't thought about people noticing her resemblance to her mother but she knew it was going to happen eventually. She just didn't expect that to happen so soon.

"Yeah, it's okay," she intervened quickly to take the attention away from the topic, "I should get going. I'm supposed to find my friend."

Yujin and Rei stepped aside to give her space to leave the room but Huyunseo froze when she felt a hand grabbing her arm.

"Wait, you're going to get lost again. Let me take you with him," Yujin offered.

"Don't worry," Hyunseo faked a smile, tense because of the sudden contact, "Just point me in the right direction and I'll make sure I don't get lost."

Yujin let go of her arm and pointed down the hallway, telling her how to get to the room she was looking for. Hyunseo thanked her and walked away quickly, overwhelmed by the meeting. Was her mom worrying about her without even knowing who she was?

Being right in front of that younger version of her mom was the most surreal situation she had experienced, and when she had touched her, she was surprised by the sudden impulse of hugging her and telling her how much she missed her.

She couldn't do that, though. She didn't know who she was and even if she told her, she would thinks she was crazy. And Hyunseo definitely didn't need that.

So, she just walked until she found a room with a sign on the door that said 'Sound Room'. She entered and saw two people there. One of the guys was talking on the phone, while the other was organizing some equipment on a big storage box. They didn't pay attention to her so she just walked closer to the younger one of the two guys. He was wearing jeans, a black t-shirt and black rectangular glasses; and although Hyunseo couldn't see his face clearly, she knew he was probably in his early twenties.

"Sorry, I'm looking for Byun Baekhyun," she started saying, but when the guy in front of her looked up, she knew she didn't have to continue. She had found him.

"I'm Baekhyun, what's up?" the guy closed the box and turned to look at her.

Hyunsoe didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't this. The professor's younger self looked like a regular young man. He didn't look like the mad scientist Hyunseo had known all her life.

"Hi, I-ehm, I'm Hyunseo," she said while bowing, recovering from the initial shock, "I was told to look for you."

"By who?" Baekhyun asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"A professor who is a friend of mine. She asked me to give you this," Hyunseo explained carefully as she looked for the letter the professor had put in her backpack, and handed it to the young scientist, "He said you would understand when you read it."

Byun Baekhyun took the piece of paper and started reading. Hyunseo observed in silence, nervous of what would happen next. Suddenly, Baekhyun's eyes opened widely and he looked up.

"Give me a second."

He put the letter in his pocket and turned around. After closing all the boxes around him, he told the other man in the room.

"Hey dude, can you tell Taeyoung I'm done with the equipment? I need to go," the other man nodded and Baekhyun walked out, pulling Hyunseo by the arm, "Come with me, we need to talk."

---

"Tell me again how you got this letter?" Baekhyun asked calmly, pacing around the small room.

"You gave it to me. You from the future." Hyunseo rolled her eyes, hiding the anxiety she was feeling at that moment, "You do believe me, right? Because even if you make me repeat that a hundred more times, it won't make more sense.

"Well, that's the Ahn attitude. I can't deny that." He laughed, taking off his glasses to wipe the lenses with his shirt, before putting them back on, "I'm sorry, I do believe you. I mean, it sounds completely insane but this letter was definitely written by me."

"So, you'll help me?"

"I will, I just wish I had more information on what to do," the young scientist sat next to Cameron, "Basically all I know is that this earthquake caused a fluctuation that affected your family."

"And he - well, you - found this fluctuation in December 2019. So here I am, trying to make sure my parents do get together, so the life I know continues to exist," Hyunseo covered her face with her hands in frustration.

"It's fine, we'll find a way to fix whatever is going on," Baekhyun reassured her , patting her arm, "But according to this letter, the first thing I need to do is introduce you to your parents. Wow, that sounded crazy."

"My whole life is crazy right now," Hyunseo shrugged, "Besides I kind of met my mom when I just arrived here."

"Which mom?" Baekhyun chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Yujin. I call her mom. And my eomma, that's Wonyoung." the girl clarified, "I guess I won't be able to call them that here, though."

"Not unless you want a restraining order."

They both laughed. For Hyunseo, it wasn't weird to have a good connection with the younger version of the professor. He was the same person anyway, only 25 years younger. And for Byun Baekhyun, meeting this girl was the beginning of the experience he had been looking for and he knew he could trust her. He just knew.

"Let's get moving." Baekhyun finally said, standing up, "You need to meet your moms."

---

"I swear if I didn't know Yujin's family, I would have sworn she was her sister or something."

"Oh, come on, Rei . You're exaggerating."

Yujin and Rei had already met the other girls and were telling them about the strange meeting with the girl.

"I'm not!" Rei laughed, "And her eyes were just like yours."

"I need to see that myself dude." Yena chuckled, "How old was she? Was she good looking?"

Yujin rolled her eyes.

"No, don't you roll your pretty eyes at me, Yujin," Yena pointed at Yujin, "I'm sure Chaewon and Wonyoung want to know too."

"She must be around our age," Rei started before anyone could say anything else, "And she is pretty."

"That's it!" Yena slapped Wonyoung's arm, "Won, we're meeting this girl."

Wonyoung laughed at her friend. She had been listening to the whole conversation quietly, but she was curious about this guy who looked a lot like Yujin. She did think Rei was probably exaggerating but she could play along.

"A pretty girl? Bring her here!" she joked, making everybody laugh, except for Yujin who just rolled her eyes again.

Weird. Yujin was usually the one who laughed at her jokes.

"Don't worry, Yujin. We're not replacing you with your long lost sister, so stop acting all jealous." Rei winked at Yujin.

Wonyoung wondered if Yujin was really jealous of them talking about this girl. She secretly wanted her to be jealous of Wonyoung talking about the boy. But she sometimes doubted Yujin would ever get jealous over her.

Her thoughts were interrupted, though, when there was a knock on the door. Chaewon walked to it and opened it slightly.

"Yes? Oh, hi Baekhyun. Who's – oh wow."

The girls heard Chaewon's side of the conversation in silence and then the shorter girl turned around with a smile on her face.

"I guess you were telling the truth, Rei-chan," she said, opening the door.

Wonyoung didn't have time to think about that because her eyes met the girl they had been talking about and her eyes found her immediately.

Rei really hadn't been lying. The girl's face were fixed on Wonyoung, who felt a weird familiarity in her. It wasn't just her eyes, though. There was something else about that girl that made Wonyoung feel like she knew her but she was sure she had never seen her before.

"Hi, everybody," said the girl shyly, "I'm Hyunseo."

Wonyoung couldn't look away, so she didn't notice that Yujin was staring at her staring at the girl.

On the other side of the room, Hyunseo knew the events she had experienced in the past hours were about to get even crazier. She was about to be part of hermothers' lives.

Six years before she was even born.

Chapter Text

She had told them the story they had come up with. They'd say Hyunseo was a family friend that had volunteered to join them for a couple of weeks to learn about sound engineering. It wasn't too far from the truth and, as long as she kept quiet and did as she was told, people would be happy to have him. Baekhyun knew there wouldn't be a problem with that because he and Jinyoung, the girls' tour manager, were good friends.

"Just for a few weeks," Baekhyun replied before Hyunseo could say anything, "I'm sure after she's done here, she'll be desperate to go home. You know, she's a momma's girl."

Hyunseo blushed at his words although she knew no one would understand the real meaning behind them.

"I'm not!" the girl defended himself, "I'm just close to my family."

"Awww," all the girls cooed.

Chaewon, who was next to her, pull her into a quick hug, "We all know what is like to feel homesick, but we hope you feel at home here."

Sweet, caring Aunt Chaewon. Hyunseo had always loved her hugs sinces he could remember, and having that familiar comfort and warm from her made her feel a little less nervous. A little bit more at home.

"Thanks, Au-" Hyunseo stopped herself before she said anything that would make things awkward, "Yeah, thanks Cchaewon sunbae. I feel better already."

"You can call me unnie!" She smiled at him brightly. 

"Yah! Baekhyun," Yena yelled from the counter she was sitting on, "You'd better bring the cutie tonight to hang out."

"I will," Baekhyun chuckled at the nickname he knew would make Hyunseo feel weird, "But for now, I still have to show her around. So, see you all later."

Hyunseo's eyes found her mothers before leaving the room. They were sitting together on the small sofa. Wonyoung was holding her phone and her legs were on Yujin's lap, while the older girl was opening a book distractedly.

They seemed fine. But Hyunseo knew something was wrong. Or something wrong was about to happen.

"Well that was so weird," Hyunseo sighed as she followed Hyunseo down the hallway.

"I thought it was hilarious," Baekhyun laughed, "Specially when Chaewon was all over you and Yena called you cutie."

"Shut up. That's my godmother you're talking about."

Baekhyun stopped in his tracks, "Your godmother? Who? Chaewon?"

"No, not her. Yena is my godmother. Chaewon is my sister's godmother." Hyunseo explained.

Baekhyun eyes flew open and he pulled her by the arm without saying a word. When they reached a big tour bus, the older boy pushed her inside and had her sit.

"Wait here," he said and walked into the bunk area. After less than a minute, he came back and sat next to Hyunseo, "Do you have a sister? I thought you were a science anomaly or something. No offense."

Hyunseo laughed, "None taken. And yes, I do. Wow you scared the hell out of me. I thought I had said something wrong."

"Yeah, well, you're from the future. That's a lot to take in."

"Wait, shush," Hyunseo lowered his voice, "What if someone hears us?"

"Doubt it. This is the crew's bus and by this time, after a show they're always a bit late. Nobody's coming here anytime soon."

"What about you?" Hyunseo raised her eyebrows, sarcastically.

"Stop doing that, oh god, you look just like your mother. The sassy one. " Baekhyun chuckled, "And about my job, I'm done already. I'm usually busy during and after a concert. You should be memorizing the schedule right now, assistant."

They smiled and then stayed in deep thought for a while.

"You really are Yujin's and Wonyoung's daughter from the future." Baekhyun said. And it was a statement more than a question.

"Yep," Hyunseo answered, putting emphasis on the 'p'.

"And I guess the girls are still good friends since Yena is your godmother and Chaewon is your sister's godmother," Baekhyun continued and Hyunseo just nodded, "But, wait, what about Rei?"

"Aunt Rei? Well, my sister is 3, so when she was born Aunt Chaewon had already made Aunt Rei godmother of one of her twins."

"I see." Baekhyun was trying to process all the new information, "Anything else I need to know? Chaewon is married, I guess. What about Rei and Yena?"

"I don't think I can say much about them because of the time travel rules and stuff, you know," Hyunseo suddenly remember the words of the older version of the man in front of her, "My mom, Yujin, became a psychologist after Diamond Eyes and my mother, Wonyoung, or as she calls herself 'the woman who gave birth to this pretty girl'", Hyunseo smiled sadly, "she is a famous producer and songwriter."

Baekhyun looked at her, noticing the sadness in her features, and patted her knee, "Don't worry, kid. We'll fix everything."

"Thanks," the younger girl sighed and then smirked, "But you don't get to call me 'kid'. Right now we're almost the same age."

"You're 18. I'm 20. I'm still older than you. Sorry, kid."

Hyunseo rolled her eyes and was about to protest when Baekhyun's phone rang.

"It's Yena," he informed before answering, "Hey there, princess Yena."

Hyunseo looked at Baekhyun, confused at the nickname.

"In your bus? Sure, we'll be there in 5."

Baekhyun hung up the phone and turned to Hyunseo, "Before you say anything, she got the role of a princess in a drama so we started using that nickname. No big deal."

"Yeah, sure," Hyunseo smiled, "I think someone likes Yena."

That got her a smack in the head, so she just laughed at his joke and followed the older boy out of the bus.

---

"It was about time!" Rei groaned as the pair entered the bus.

On their way to the bus, Baekhyun had told Hyunseo that, unless they were too tired, they had this habit of getting together at night, to relax for a while before going to sleep. They had become good friends with Baekhyun right away after he had started working with the crew a few months before and although he was a bit older that some of the girls, he found them hilarious and enjoyed spending time with them. Hyunseo also learned that Baekhyun was in college, studying science and physics, but he had decided to take a year off to save some money, and that's how he had ended up working with Diamond Eye's crew.

"Thanks for the warm welcome," Baekhyun said sarcastically as he moved inside the lounge and sat on the floor, in front of the sofa.

Hyunseo looked at Rei and Chaewon who were sitting comfortably in the sofa, browsing through netflix, while Yena was on her phone. Then her eyes met Wonyoung, who was looking at her as well.

Suddenly she stood up and walked to him, "Hi. I'm Wonyoung, by the way."

"Yeah, I know," Hyunseo replied, laughing shyly, "I'm Hyunseo, but you can call me Leeseo if you like."

"Wonyoungie and Hyun?" a voice said from behind him and he turned his head to see Yujin, "That's funny, like, you could have your own TV show and all, but if we could actually sit, that would be nice."

Wonyoung pulled her by the arm and made her sit next to her on the sofa. Yujin took her seat on the side of Wonyoung.

"Is Jinyoung coming?" Baekhyun asked.

"No," Chaewon said, "He's busy so he said he would miss the fun tonight."

"Chae, I've got an idea." Yena interrupted, "What if we don't watch a movie tonight?"

"What are we doing then?" the girl asked.

"A simple game of truth or dare."

"Yass, Yena!" Rei clapped, "That's a great idea!"

"And in that way we can also get to know Leeseo." Yujin agreed, pointing at Hyunseo with a smirk.

"But pleeeeease, be nice to me," Wonyoung groaned and shifted so she was laying on the sofa, her head on Yujin's lap, "Last time I almost broke my leg trying to dance on a table."

Everybody laughed and Hyunseo tried not to smile too hard when he saw Yujin stroking Wonyoung's hair affectionately with one hand. The scene was familiar to her and she wondered if her mothers were already aware of their feelings towards each other.

"Don't worry, you klutz, we need you in one piece for the shows." Yujin rolled her eyes.

"I knew you only loved me for my amazing stage presence," the younger-girl joked, pretending to be offended.

"Well, you do have an great stage presence, you know?"

"Can you two stop flirting so we can get this game started?" Yena interrupted the exchange between her friends.

"We are just talking, Dinah," Yujin looked at her bandmate disapprovingly.

"Same difference," the girl shrugged and sat on the floor, next to Baekhyun, "Oppa, do the honors, and start this game."

"Whatever you say, princess Yena."

---

Two rounds into the game, Hyunseo had managed to avoid any dangerous questions in the application they were using. Baekhyun had asked her for her favorite food in the first round and Chaewon had asked what her favorite movie was. The second one had required her to remember one of the old movies her mothers loved to watch but she had managed to sound convincing.

"Leeseo-ah, truth or dare?" Yujin asked and Hyunseo took a second to just enjoy the nickname coming from her mom.

"Eh, truth, I guess."

"So boring," Yena complained, clearly not amused at the lack of dares, "You better get a good question, Jin."

Yujin waited and then read the question on the screen, "What's your favorite physical attribute?"

Hyunseo smiled widely. That was an inside jokes she and her mom had, so it was funny that she was the one asking her that question. People always asked them expecting them to mention their eyes, but they loved to confuse others with their answers.

"My pinky finger from my right hand," she replied with a serious look on her face.

"What? Seriously?" Rei looked surprised and Hyunseo could see the others trying to look at her right hand.

Yujin just laughed out loud, "She's joking, guys!"

"Of course she is," Wonyoung said as if it was obvious. "They both have the cutest set of eyes!"

Yujin looked at Wonyoung quickly before sitting back and continued laughing at the girl's joke. In any other situation she would've felt sad at Wonyoung complimenting someone in that way, but for some reason, she didn't mind.

"Hyun, you're hella funny. I approve of our friendship," Yena high-fived the girl, "Now it's your turn! Ask Won."

"Truth!" Wonyoung yelled before Hyunseo could even ask.

"No, Won, we're done with the questions, it's time for a dare," Rei said.

"Fine!" the younger girl grunted.

"Hyunseo, come here," Yena leaned in and whispered some instructions in her ear, making her smirk. She was suddenly incredibly proud of her godmother.

"Wonyoung," she started, still feeling weird about calling her mothers by their first names, "I dare you to tell Yujin something about her that you've never told her before."

Yujin's eyes opened widely and she glared at Yena who ignored her completely and instead high-fived Hyunseo again.

"Good girl."

Wonyoung, still lying on Yujins' lap, sat up and looked at her members.

"I don't know what to say," she shrugged her shoulders and Hyusneo could tell she was blushing, "I think your voice is amazing."

Yujin smiled but Chaewon spoke for the group, "You've told her that a million times, Won. We all have."

"Unnnieeee," Wonyoung moaned, not happy of being put on the spot.

"Come on, Won, just do it," Baekhyun encouraged her.

"Okay, okay," Wonyoung looked at Yujin, who was holding back her laughter, "Don't laugh, okay?" Yujin nodded, her lips pursed trying to look serious, and Wonyoung sighed, "Okay, I think it's really cute when you talk very passionately about stuff that matters to you, like you literally glow and I kind of like that. Because yeah, it's nice."

Everybody stayed silent, curious of how Yujin would respond.

But before anything else happened, there was a knock on the door and Jinyoung walked into the room.

"Hello, everybody. I hate to ruin the fun, in fact I would love to join, but we're leaving in 10 minutes to the next city," he announced, "Baekhyun and Hyunseo, you need to get back to your bus and let the girls get some rest."

Baekhyun and Hyunseo nodded and said their goodbyes before walking outside.

"So, where were we?" Chaewon asked when the five of them were alone again.

Yujin just smiled and pulled Wonyoung into a tight hug, "Love you, Wonyoungie."

"You guys are cute," Yena clapped and laughed, "Remind me to thank the cutie for asking that question."

"It was really your question, Unnie, not hers," Yujin said, letting Wonyoung rest on her lap again.

"Still, the cutie listened to me."

"It was a good question. I think she cheated, though," Rei winked at Yena.

"Sheis still a cutie, though."

"Yena, her name is Hyunseo," Wonyoung shook her head, "She seems like a nice girl and you calling her cutie all the time will not help her feel comfortable with us."

"Whoa, Won! Why so protective of her?" Rei laughed.

"Wait, do you like her?" Chaewon asked, curious.

"What? No!" Wonyoung frowned, "I mean, she is kind of cute, but I don't like her in that way. I just feel bad because she seems shy."

"I thought Chaewon-unnie was the mom here?" Yujin chucked at Wonyoung's words, although she had felt the same about the girl.

"No, I know what you mean, Won. She seems shy but I think she doesn't mind Yena calling her cutie. They're getting along just fine." Chaewon agreed partially, "Anyway, girls, I think it's time to go to bed."

"Chaewon" Wonyong complained.

Suddenly she yawned and covered her mouth, embarrassed of the horrible timing of her yawn.

"Okay. Chaewon is being a mom and Wonyoung is being childish again. The balance has been restored in the universe," Rei said dramatically, making her bandmates laugh, "I still think you're being too protective of that girl, Wonyoung."

"Rei, shut up," Wonyoung and Yujin said at the same time and laughed.

They looked at each other for a second before Yujin left the room and Wonyoung stayed there, thinking about that girl and her question and hoping her answer hadn't revealed anything she wasn't ready to admit just yet.

---

Later that night, Hyunseo was still awake in the bunk that had being assigned to her. She had found a charger in the backpack the professor had given her and although it was a charger for the time machine phone, it fit her personal phone.

She knew it was probably hopeless. She was in the past. There was no way her phone was going to work.

Still, she turned it on and waited. The device did turn on but the holographic display didn't activate. Great, she would have to do it the old fashioned way. Touch screen.

She found her contacts were still in her phone but she had no signal, which made sense in the circumstances. She was glad to see most of her games were working and so was the music player.

After a while, she started feeling sleepy. When she was about to put her phone aside to sleep, she noticed one small app icon. Her photo gallery.

She opened the app, hopeful, and she was surprised to see most of her photos were there. Her 18th birthday pictures, the last ones she had uploaded, were all there.

The one she had uploaded before her party was also there and it filled her eyes with tears.

It was a picture of herself with her family. Her mothers were there with her little sister. She was holding Sumin, who had her little arms wrapped around her neck. With her other arm, she was hugging Wonyoung really close and she was trying to kiss her cheek. Next to them, on the right, was Yujin, her face pressed to Sumin's back and her arms around her wife and children, trying her best to hug them.

Hyunseo smiled sadly; remembering the moment the picture had been taken. They had had so much fun that day, celebrating her birthday just the four of them. It was merely days before the earthquake had hit and everything had gone crazy.

She missed them so much. And she was determined to fix whatever had gone wrong.

---

In the other bus, a pair of eyes was also still open. Wonyoung was lost in thought, as she usually was at night. These were the moment when she wondered about things that had happened throughout the day and her thoughts, no matter what, always ended up on the same person. Yujin.

Wonyoung wondered what would happen if Yujin ever found out what Wonyoung actually felt. If she knew that a friendship just wasn't enough for the younger girl.

Wonyoung hoped every single day that Yujin realized. But at the same time, she didn't want her secret to be out. Because, what would happen if Yujin didn't feel the same way about her? What if she rejected her and Wonyoung lost even her friendship?

There was too much at stake and the younger-girl wondered how long the situation would stay the same.

Maybe she had to follow Yena's advice. Yena didn't know the whole story or who was it that Wonyoung was waiting for, but the girl had told her that it wasn't right for her to wait forever. She deserved to be happy.

Wonyuong did deserve to be happy. She wanted to be happy with Yujin.

But that didn't seem like a possibility. So Wonyoung wondered. She thought about her life and wondered if maybe, just maybe, she would have to give herself the chance to be happy with someone else.

Maybe with a boy who was nice and funny and with whom she had felt a connection since they first met. A boy who had the same puppy-eyes that she loved.

Wonyoung stopped her thoughts right there. It was too late and her mind was drifting way too much.

But still, she wondered.

Chapter Text

"What's the plan?"

Baekhyun and Hyunseo were setting up some equipment, and as soon as they were left alone, the older boy finally got the chance to talk about their mission.

"Make sure my mothers end up together?" Hyunseo shrugged her shoulders although that was a question she had been asking herself as well, "I told you, we didn't have time to make a detailed plan. Everything happened so fast."

"Well, you're lucky I'm incredibly clever," Baekhyun smirked, "In the letter, I wrote some ideas of how to deal with this whole situation. First, though, I need you to tell me when exactly you mothers got together. You have that information."

"I do?" Hyunseo asked, confused, but a second after saying that, the memories appeared in her mind and her eyes opened widely, "I do! How did I forget that? I've heard that story thousands of times! My mother tells it all the time!"

"Forgetting stuff is something he- well, I predicted would happen," Baekhyun nodded while plugging some cables, not at all phased by Hyunseo's sudden memory loss, "I wrote about time fixing itself, which means the longer we take, the more memories you may lose. Don't be scared, Cam, I'll be asking questions to keep your memory from erasing important stuff."

"Thanks for the heads up but I'm freaking out already."

"It's okay, just don't lose control. Now, focus and tell me when you mothers got together."

Hyunseo closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remember all the details she could.

---

The 2-year-old baby on Hyunseo's arms opened her eyes slowly, waking up from her nap. It was New Year's Eve and with all the noise and movement in the house, it was a surprise she had managed to sleep for a couple of hours.

"Hey princess Sumin," Hyunseo whispered, smiling down at Sumin and tickling her.

Sumin laughed and curled against her sister. They were incredibly close and their mothers knew that if someone could control Sumin's bad mood when she had just woken up, that was her sister.

"Let's go Sumin, they are waiting for us!"

"Who?" the little girl asked curiously.

"Well, everybody."

Sumin yawned, not convinced yet.

"Come on, aunt Rei brought a nice crown for you to wear."

"A crown?!"

Huunseo smiled triumphantly, "Yes, a crown specially made for a princess."

"Let's go, let's go!" Sumin squirmed in her arms, so Hyunseo put her down and grabbed her little hand, "Do you have a crown too, Leeso?"

"Me? I'm not a princess," the girl laughed as they walked down the stairs slowly.

"Yes you are a princess, silly," the 2-year-old said, almost as if she couldn't believe her sister hadn't understood her point.

Once they were downstairs, Sumin spotted her Aunt Chaewon and her Aunt Rei moving around in the kitchen and she ran to them excitedly. Hyunseo walked into the kitchen smiling at her aunts, who were hugging and kissing Sumin, although the little girl was more concerned about asking for her crown.

"Where are my moms?" Hyunseo asked Chaewon once Sumin had pulled Rei out of the kitchen.

"It's almost midnight."

"Oh, the gift tradition."

Hyunseo knew her moms had a tradition. Minutes before midnight they exchanged small gifts as a celebration of the day they got together all those years ago.

"A tradition that has never been broken," Wonyoung's voice made her daughter turned as she rolled her eyes, amused.

"Of course not, you're mushy and romantic like that," she joked.

"We've always been," Yujin said, putting an arm around Wonyuong's waist, "right Chaewon?"

"Oh yes," Chaewon smiled, "That New Year's eve when your mom finally confessed her feelings was so romantic. There were tears."

"You cried too, Chaewon-unnie!" Wonyoung laughed.

"I did because you two were so cute and we were happy for you."

"It was really cute, I agree," Wonyoung leaned and gave Yujin a peck on the lips, "It was perfect."

"Ew, stop it please," Hyunseo pretended to be disgusted by the display of affection.

Chaewon, Wonyoung and Yujin laughed out loud at the girl's face. They knew she didn't mean it, so Chaewon just linked her right arm with Hyunseo's left one and they all walked to the living room, where Sumin was already modeling her new crown.

---

"New Year's Eve," Hyunseo answered after a few seconds, her forehead contracted in a frown as she focused as much as she could on the memory, "My mother always tells the story of how the group helped my mom prepare a surprise for her and how perfect it was. I don't remember any details."

"That's okay," Baekhyun nodded, "Now we know how much time we have to knock some sense into your mothers' heads and make sure nothing gets in the way. Easy peasy."

"Yeah, easy peasy."

"Now, assistant, I forgot a blue cable in the bus, can you bring it?" Baekhyun rubbed his hands and got back to setting up the equipment.

Hyunseo made her way to the bus and got the cable they needed, but her mind was somewhere else. She hoped completing her mission was as easy as Baekhyun expected and she kept telling herself she didn't have anything to worry about.

Suddenly, as she turned at the end of a hallway, she collided into someone.

"Ouch. Sorry," she apologized; rubbing her right arm and picking up the cable she had dropped.

"Be careful, kid," a male voice replied annoyingly, "if my bodyguard had seen you, he would have thought you were a hater trying to hurt me."

Hyunseo looked at the boy, confused by his words. He didn't seem much older than her. He had brown eyes and blonde dyed hair. Hyunseo didn't recognize him and she guessed he wasn't someone too relevant, since her moms had introduced her to a lot of famous people over the years.

"Sorry, it was an accident and I-"

"Leeseo, do you have the cable?" Baekhyun came out of the room but stopped when he saw Hyunseo with a boy, and his expression turned serious, "Oh, hi Sunghoon."

Hyunseo frowned, her mind going over the guys called Sunghoon that she had met.

"I know you, don't I?" the boy, Sunghoon, pointed at Baekhyun, "Baekhyun, right? Aren't you friends with Wonyoung?"

"Yes," He said "And yes, I am friends with Wonyoung and the Diamond Eyes girls."

"Do you know where Wonyoung is?" Sunghoon kept talking, "I want to talk to her."

"I don't know where Wonyoung is, sorry. Now if you excuse me, I have to go back to work."

"Ok, whatever, if you see her tell her I'm looking for her, okay?" he made the peace sign and walked away.

"Who was that?" Hyunseo asked when they were alone again.

"Park Sunghoon," Baekhyun answered, clearly unhappy, "I hope Yena finds him before he finds Wonyoung."

Hyunseo stared at him, waiting for him to explain what he was saying.

"You must have heard about him. He dated Wonyoung." Baekhyun made a face of disgust.

"I knew she had a boyfriend before she dated my mom, but I never knew his name. I just know my mom hated him but I always thought it was jealousy. Until now." Hyunseo rubbed her arm again, remembering the incident, "He isn't very nice, is he?"

Baekhyun sighed, "He is a jerk and he managed to break your mother's heart a few times even after they broke up by talking to the press about their relationship."

"And now he wants to talk to her?" Hyunseo was very protective of her family and the idea of that guy around her mother was bothering her greatly, "How long ago did that happen?"

"Earlier this year,"

"We need to let them know. My mom and my aunts won't be happy to know he's looking for my mother."

"We will tell them," Baekhyun assured her, "But now, I need to finish setting this thing up and you have some homework to do."

---

In the dressing room, Chaewon and Rei were having a dance-off that had already a clear winner, but still, the other girls were cheering and having some fun. Except for Wonyoung.

Yena had noticed how distracted she was, so as soon as she had chance she told her she needed some help and dragged her out of the room.

"Tell me whatever it is you're thinking about," Yena demanded, staring at her best friend.

"I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night," Wonyoung rubbed her eyes, trying to show that she was indeed tired.

"I'm not stupid, Won," Yena glared at her.

"I'm sorry, unnie," Wonyoung sighed, "I just need a distraction. Let's do something fun, ok?"

The taller girl started walking down the hallway and Yena followed her in silence. Wonyoung made small talk for a few minutes, trying to avoid the topic she knew Yena was dying to mention until the older-girl stopped abruptly.

"What-"

"Shush," Yena covered Wonyoung'smouth with her hand and whispered, "Look who's there."

Wonyong looked at the other end of the hallway and saw her. Hyunseo was sitting against a wall with her knees against her chest and a cellphone in her hands. She seemed completely focused on whatever she was looking at on the screen.

"Yena unnie, what are you planning to do to her?" Wonyoung asked when she saw the smirk on her friend's face.

"I'm not doing anything. You are."

"Me?"

"You did say you needed a distraction, right?" Yena winked, "Go there and scare her."

Wonyoung doubted for a second but then sighed and gave in. There was no point in contradicting Yena. Besides, for some strange reason, she felt confortable with the idea of playing a prank on this girl she had just met the day before.

She walked slowly and as quietly as she could until she was almost next to her. She then leaned in to put her hands on her nearer shoulder.

"Boo!" she yelled, and for a second, before she reacted, she thought she saw a picture of herself as a baby on her phone's screen.

Hyunseo jumped back, startled by Wonyoung, who had a confused expression on her face for a moment, but then started laughing incredibly hard.

"Oh my god, why do you always do that to me?" Hyunseo put her hand on her chest as she tried to calm himself down.

"Always? I've never scared you before," Wonyoung looked confused again.

"I mean- uh, I mean, people are always scaring me," the girl ran a hand through her hair, nervously, "Why are people always scaring me?"

"Clearly because it's not hard to do that," Yena laughed harder, "And your face was amazing."

Wonyoung rolled her eyes at her friend's words and saw Hyunseo doing exactly the same, before smiling at her.

"Anyway," she leaned in again trying to get a peek of her phone's screen again, curious about the picture she had seen, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing intersting. I'm taking Baekhyun's crash course so I won't make a fool of myself next time I run into a celebrity," Hyunseo shrugged her shoulders and played with the phone in her hand

"What do you mean?" Yena asked as the girl stood up from her sitting position.

"I've run into A- a few singers and I didn't know who they were."

"And that picture you were looking at, the one with the baby, was it one of those singers?" Wonyoung asked, surprising both Yena and Hyunseo with the question.

"What picture?" Yena frowned, clearly not following what her friend was talking about, but Wonyoung ignored her and focused her attention on the younger-girl.

"That was actually my little sister," Hyunseo was struggling to find the right words to say and Wonyoung wondered if she was telling the truth, "I miss her and I saw a picture of us, so, yeah."

"Aww, you're so cute," Yena clasped her hands together, "Show us the picture!"

Wonyoung was hoping he would show them the picture because she could've sworn it was a picture of her, but he had no reason to lie. Right? But as soon as the request left Yena's lips, Rei showed up and called Yena to go with her.

"You gotta show me that pic later, eh?" Yena pointed at her. Hyunseo forced a smile and nodded.

The older-girl winked at Wonyoung and left with Rei. Wonyoung wanted to hide but at the same time wanted to punch her unnie for being so unsubtle. Instead she just hoped no one else had noticed the wink, but her.

"So, Hyun," she turned to her and met her bright puppy eyes, so familiar to her, yet so strange in a different face, "I've performed here before so I could show you around and help you with that crash course. What do you say?"

"Sure, why not?" Hyunseo put the phone in her pocket and followed her.

They got distracted from the crash course really quickly, though, and ended up wandering the hallways and talking about music and random facts for almost half an hour. Wonyoung told Hyunseo about her favorite songs at the moment and they laughed at Wonyoung's experiences meeting their favorite artists. The girl couldn't believe she was laughing so much with her mother. She knew her mother was funny and talkative and she always loved spending time with her, but hanging out with her as a friend and not as her daughter, with her being almost the same age as her, it was a surreal experience. She was having so much fun thats he didn't notice it was lunchtime until Wonyoung's phone started ringing.

"Oops! I'm late for an interview," Wonyoung giggled.

"I don't want to be blamed if you miss the interview, so go," Hyunseo put her hands together, a little disappointed because she had wasted a chance to ask her mother about her mom.

"We should do this some other day. It was fun."

Before Hyunseo could open her mouth, she felt a soft kiss being pressed on her cheek and then Wonyoung was gone. She smiled. She was starting to trust her. She just had to find one moment to bring up the topic of her relationship with her mom. Soon.

---

Later that afternoon, the girls finally got some time off before the meet & greet and they decided to relax in their dressing room.

"Where were you, Wonyoungie? We were about to start that interview without you," Yujin fixed her hair in front of the mirror, as if she hadn't been waiting to ask her that.

"Yes, girl, you should've seen Jinyoung," Rei laughed, "He had his maniac face on."

"Oh, come on, I was just like 5 minutes late," Wonyoung pouted.

"It was more that 5 minutes, Won, but whatever, where were you?" Yena pushed her to sit next to her on the black sofa.

"You know where I was," Wonyoung said, blushing slightly but enough for Yena to notice.

"Won! You were still with puppy-eyes?" Yena almost yelled.

Yujin turned around, confused, because she hadn't hung out with Wonyoung that morning, but then Chaewon gasped.

"Hyunseo-ah?"

"Of course, Hyunseo," Yena confirmed, "What did you two do after I left?"

"We talked, that's all," Wonyoung looked away from her friend to find a pair of eyes staring at her intensely.

Yujin's face was impossible to read and no emotion there was clear to Wonyoung, especially since the older girl avoided her eyes a second later and turned to Yena.

"Of course they were just talking, Yena-unnie," Yujin shrugged, a cold tone in her voice that no one but Wonyoung seemed to hear, "The girl seems too nice to try anything so soon and also, this is Wonyoung we're talking about."

Wonyoung knew she was not a wild, crazy person and she knew most people thought she was a completely innocent little girl. But she wasn't that innocent. She had had a boyfriend. For a really short time, but it counted. And although Yujin sometimes treated her like she was much older than Wonyoung, this time there was some viciousness in her voice that made Wonyoung angry.

"Well, actually I kissed her," Wonyoung didn't know why she said that but she didn't take her eyes off Yujin as she said it.

"WHAT?!" all four girls yelled, shocked at their bandmate's words and just in that moment, Yena's mom walked into the room and got scared by the screams.

"What's going on, girls?" she asked, alerted by the noise.

"AMMA! AMMA!" Yena jumped from her seat and went to her mother, "Won just kissed a girl."

Wonyoung rolled her eyes but as Yena updated Yuri on what had happened, she focused on Yujin.  She had tensed up and her hands were closed on fists, the expression on her face a mixture of anger, shock and something else Wonyoung couldn't quite understand. Sadness? Disappointment?

"It was a kiss on the cheek, unnie. Don't get too excited," the girl finally said, hoping her friends wouldn't make such a big deal of that.

"Oh, man, I thought you had gotten a new boyfriend, Won."

Rei and Chaewon laughed at Yena's disappointment but Yujin was silent, not as tense as before but clearly lost in thought.

Wonyoung started to get ready for the meet & greet, but her mind was running a thousand miles per hour. Yujin confused her. Sometimes she acted cutely with Wonyoung, as if she wanted to protect her from the world. Other times, like the night before, Wonyoung felt something else; she felt Yujin could actually have feelings for her. But the rest of the time, Yujin would switch off her feelings and didn't let anybody in, not even Wonyoung, and that was scary.

Wonyoung wished she could understand what was going inside Yujin's mind. She wished she knew how Yujin really felt about her. She wanted to know if it was safe to tell her that she didn't want another boyfriend. If it was safe to tell her that she wanted Yujin and nobody else. But what if she did that and lost Yujin completely?

She couldn't risk their friendship and she couldn't risk hurting the rest of the girls by destroying the group and all they had worked for in the last 3 years.

---

Hyunseo walked to the girls' dressing room and knocked on the door. She had been sent to let the girls know that they were next in the lineup and she was glad she had another chance to see her mothers.

"Hey, Hyun," Rei greeted her as she opened the door and let her in.

As soon as she walked inside, Yena, Rei and Chaewon looked at Wonyoung, but the girl didn't think it was important, so she ignored it.

"Hi, girls. You have to be ready in 30 minutes."

"Okay, thanks." Chaewon said, looking around, "Does someone know where Yujn is?

"Oh no, don't tell me she's going to be late now," Rei groaned.

"It's fine, I'll look for Yujin," Hyunseo volunteered, "You girls don't worry, get ready and I'll find her."

Chaewon thanked her and Hyunseo nodded. She looked at Wonyoung before leaving the room but she seemed distracted and didn't even look at her. She frowned.

---

"Yujin?"

Hyunseo had spent the last 10 minutes knocking on every door on 3 different floors and she still hadn't found Yujin. She leaned back on a wall and sighed. Maybe she just had to tell one of the managers to help her look around.

When she was about to give up, she saw a door at the end of the hallway she hadn't checked yet. She walked to it and opened it to find some narrow stairs. She looked around and saw nobody, so she decided there was no harm in checking the room at the top of the stairs.

But there was no room. Instead, she found himself in some sort of large, empty balcony. Empty, except for someone who was leaning on the railing, looking at the lights of the city. She recognized who it was immediately.

"You're going to freeze to death," Hyunseo said quietly taking a few steps towards Yujin , "You could've at least worn a jacket."

Yujin turned around and looked at her blankly. She had already changed into her performance outfit but she had been too distracted to remember to put on anything else to stay warm.

Hyunseo untied the sweater she had around her waist and placed it on Yujin's shoulder. She may not get it but she was her mother and she felt responsible to make sure nothing bad happened to her.

"Why are you doing this?" Yujin asked but accepted the warm sweater, "If you are flirting with Wonyoung, you shouldn't try anything with me."

"I am, what?" the girl shook her head, trying to understand what she had just heard, "No, no, no, I'm definitely not flirting with Wonyoung and I am not trying anything with you, either."

Yujin turned her head and saw the shocked expression on Hyunseo's face. It was an expression of pure, honest shock. And she believed her.

"I believe you but you don't have to look so disgusted," Yujin smiled a little.

"What- I- You,"

"I was joking," Yujin laughed at the girl's stuttering but then her face turned serious again, "Sorry for being so blunt. I just heard some stuff about you and Wonyoung."

Hyunseo took a deep breath and tried to organize her thoughts. People could not think she was trying to flirt with her own mothers. Of course, they didn't know they were her mothers at all, but that was no excuse. She had to be more careful and focus more on her mission and less on just hanging out with her moms.

"Look, you and Wonyoung are incredibly beautiful but I'm not here for that," she said slowly, "I'd love to be friends with you because you seem really nice people."

Yujin nodded, "I'd like that, too. I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"I understand," Hyunseo fought an internal battle for a couple of seconds, trying to decide whether or not she should say what was in her mind. She decided for the former, "I'd be angry if I think someone were flirting with someone I like."

"Yeah and I-" Yujin stopped realizing that she had just said too much to a girl she barely knew, "I mean, I don't like Wonyoung like that."

"It's okay, don't worry. I won't say a word," Hyunseo tried not to show how proud of herself she was.

"No, you don't understand."

"I do, but I promise my lips are sealed."

Yujin was terrified. She seemed sincere and she wanted to trust her but this was her best-kept secret. Nobody knew about her feelings for Wonyoung, but herself.

"Hyusneo?" Jinyoung voice was heard through the walkie on Hyunseo's back pocket, "Did you find her?"

Hyunseo looked at Yujin, who was looking away from her, a hand running through her hair.

"She's on her way," she replied and put the radio back on her pocket, "Yujin they need you for the show. Really, I'm not going to repeat what you told me."

Yujin turned around and pointed a finger at her, "I don't know why, but I believe you. This conversation isn't over, though. We need to talk about this."

Hyunseo moved her head up and down, almost feeling she was back in front of her mom. Identical puppy eyes  were fixed on each other for a few seconds before she walked past her.

She wondered how this conversation was going to go down. Was it a step on the right direction? It had to be.

Hyunseo just followed her quietly. It was showtime.

Chapter Text

"Eomma, tell me a story," 5-year-old Hyunseo asked while her mother tucked her into bed, "Diamond Eye's story."

Wonyoung smiled sweetly at the girl, "Again?"

Lately, the young girl seemed fascinated by her mothers' experience being in a music group, and she wanted to hear the story over and over again.

"Yes, please, eomma!" she pouted and showed Wonyoung her best puppy eyes.

"Fine," she agreed, motioning him to move and give her some space to sit next to her. She cuddled closer to her, her head on her stomach as she stroked her soft brown hair, "Once upon a time, there were 5 girls who didn't know each other but had the same dream-"

"And they wanted to show the world that anything could happen and those girls were you, mom, Aunt Chaewon, Aunt Yena and Aunt Rei!" Hyunseo cried out excitedly.

"Shush, you minion. I'm trying to tell the coolest story ever."

"Ok, mom."

Wonyoung smiled, hugged her son closer to her and sighed before continuing the story.

When Yujin arrived, about 30 minutes later, she found the first floor of the house in complete darkness and she suspected where her wife was. She threw her coat on the sofa, took off her heels, and walked up the stairs as quietly as she could. When she got to the second floor, she heard her two favorite voices in the world.

She followed the voices until she was standing at her son's bedroom door and smiled. Neither of the people in the room noticed her arrival. Hyunseo's eyes were glued on Wonyoung, while she was completely absorbed in the story she was telling. Of course, Yujin recognized the story.

"And what did they do after their baby was born?" Hyunseo asked, forgetting she had heard the story a lot of times before.

"They continued with comebacks and making music with their friends, and now with their baby, too." Wonyoung explained, "It was one of the most incredibly tours ever and the group's fans loved the baby. And then, a few years later, they decided it was time to finish that chapter of their lives and the group disbanded."

"But the girls never stopped being part of each other's lives and lived happily ever after as the big Diamond Eyes family," Yujin finished the story, getting the attention of her family.

"Mommy!" Hyunseo got out of her bed and ran to Yujin, jumping into her mom's arms.

"Hey, baby," Yujin kissed the side of the girl's head, and walked slowly to the bed.

She laid him down on her bed again and sat next to her, opposite to Wonyoung.

"Hi, beautiful, how was the meeting?" Wonyoung leaned in and captured her wife's lips on a short kiss.

"Long," Yujin sighed, "Clearly, things were much more fun here."

"Yes, they were." Hyunseo snuggled up under her duvet, her eyes closing.

Wonyoung and Yujin looked at each other and smiled. They knew Hyunseo had been waiting for her mom to arrive to finally go to sleep. That had happened a few times before when one of them had to work late. So, as predicted, a couple of minutes later, the girl was fast asleep.

"I can't believe he waited again. She's so stubborn," Yujin chuckled, watching Wonyoung kiss their daughter's forehead and doing the same before they both walked out of her room.

"She is," the brown-eyed girl put her right arm around her wife's waist, resting her head on her shoulder as they walked to their own room.

Yujin knew Wonyoung, though, and noticed the lack of usual playfulness in her reply, "Is everything okay, babe? Usually you would say that she got it from me."

Wonyoung stayed silent for a few seconds before asking, "Do you miss it?"

"Miss it? What do you mean?" Yujin frowned, stopping and looking at the younger woman.

"Diamond Eyes. Being in a group."

Yujin smiled, and pulled her wife into a hug, "It's been a couple of years so, yes, I sometimes miss it, but at the same time, I don't." Wonyuong just hugged her tighter, as if telling her to continue talking, "We had a lot of fun with Diamond Eyes and that's definitely a part of my life I will always remember and treasure, but when we decided it was time to turn the page, it was for the best. We are still doing stuff we love, and we have more time to spend with Leeso now that she's growing up."

"You're right. I was just being silly."

"You weren't." Yujin reassured her, "It's okay to miss it, Wonyo."

"It was just nostalgia but I'm happy with our life right now," Wonyoung pulled away and placed a kiss on Yujin's cheek, "Besides, I've got you and Hyun. And that's all I need to be happy."

"You're so cute. I love you," Yujin said and kissed her wife before tickling playfully.

"Yujin!" Wonyoung jumped back and groaned, "You just killed the mood."

The older woman laughed, not missing the smirk on her wife's face, "That's my job, princess."

---

"This is so crazy."

Baekhyun looked at the girl at the sudden comment.

"I mean, seeing my moms performing on stage," Hyunseo clarified.

"You've never seen them perform before?"

"Not like this. I've seen videos and I've heard them singing with my aunts, but this is an actual Diamond Eyes show," Hyunseo shook her head, trying to process what was happening, "I've heard the stories hundreds of times, but that's what they always were, you know? Stories."

Baekhyun chuckled at the girl's amazement and though it was hard for him to put himself in the girl's place, he kind of understood her reaction. He felt the same just by thinking that Wonyoung and Yujin's daughter was actually standing next to him.

"Anyway, any progress with the plan?" he finally asked when the last song of the set started playing.

"I think so," Hyunseo looked around to make sure no one was around, "I talked to my mom and I hinted that I knew the way she felt for my mom, my other mom, you know, Wonyoung."

"You told Yujin that? What did she say?"

"She denied it at first but then she told me we needed to talk about that. That has got to be a good thing, right?"

"I guess so," Baekhyun was shocked. Yujin admitting she had feelings for Wonyoungwould be an unbelievable step forward, but he wasn't sure she would do that easily, "We'll have to wait and see."

They saw the lights going out as the song finished and the screams of the crowd got louder one last time.

The girls walked excitedly off the stage but Baekhyun and Hyunseo saw them stop abruptly. In that moment, Sunghoon walked to girls and told them something before turning to Wonyoung and giving her a hug.

Hyunseo looked at Baekhyun with a frown on her face and saw the older boy shaking his head disapprovingly. The girl felt someone getting closer and turned just in time to see Yujin storming off, a pained and angry expression on her face.

"Hyunseo, I think you better hurry up and talk to Yujin because that piece-of-crap Sunghoon is up to something," Baekhyun whispered.

---

Hyunseo knocked on the tour bus door and waited. She had been looking for Yujin since the girls' set had finished but, by the time she was done helping Baekhyun with the equipment, she found just 4 of the girls in the dressing room. One of them had been a smiling Wonyoung. That had worried her.

So, now she was standing alone in an empty parking lot, not really sure of what she was going to say or do. Suddenly the door opened and a familiar face came into view.

"Oh, hi, Hyunseo," Yujin faked a smile.

"Sorry to come here, I just thought you seemed upset earlier and-" she tried to explain her presence there but then she noticed Yujin's eyes, all puffy and red, and her eyelashes wet, "Are you okay?"

"Look, I really appreciate your concern and all, but I don't really feel like talking at the moment."

"Yes, sure, ok. Sorry, I just-"

"I know and you were right, ok?" Yujin interrupted her angrily but then she took a deep breath and continued more calmly, "I am upset but I don't want to talk about that. I'm just exhausted."

"It's ok, I understand. And if you need to talk – you know," Hyunseo smiled shyly, her heart breaking at the sight of Yujin's sad face.

"Tomorrow is our day off," Yujin rubbed her eyes and run a hand through her hair, "Let's go somewhere far away from this madness. What do you think?"

"Sounds good," the girl smiled wider at the suggestion, "See you tomorrow, then."

Yujin nodded and Hyunseo started to walk away, putting her hands in her pockets. She hadn't taken more than five steps, though, when she heard Yujin calling out her name.

She turned to the voice and was surprised by a pair of arms around her and a lot of hair on her face. Yujin was hugging her. The feeling took her back to the last time she saw her mom. Her Lauren. She had hugged her goodbye that morning that seemed so far away, although just a couple of days had passed since then.

This was Yujin, too, but she wasn't her Yujin. This wasn't her mom; the woman who had taught her how to play baseball and soccer, although she could be very clumsy sometimes; and this wasn't the woman who told her that fighting for what you believe is worth all the time and effort in the world. But she let himself enjoy that moment of closeness because if things worked out well, she was going to become that woman she loved and admired so much.

"Sorry," Yujin finally said, stepping away, "I kinda needed a hug and you've been so nice."

"It's okay," Hyunseo rubbed her arm affectionately; "I meant what I said earlier about me wanting to be your friend. So, if you need a hug, I'm here and I've been told I'm a great hugger."

Yujin laughed loudly, "Don't flatter yourself."

They both laughed and Hyunseo was glad the mood had lifted.

"But, really, thanks," Yujin added and took her hand, "I feel better now."

"Is that a way to say I am actually a great hugger?" Hyunseo winked.

"Oh, shut up," the older-girl laughed, more relaxed this time and started walking to the bus, "See you tomorrow."

Hyunseo stood there until she saw her going into the bus and then she walked across the parking lot to the venue. When she was about to arrive, she saw a group of young girls talking excitedly and looking at him. He tried to ignore them but they went to him and stopped him.

"Who are you?" one of the girls asked, excitement written all over her face, "Do you know the girls?"

"I-" Cameron didn't know what to say, "Yes."

"Are you dating Lauren?" another girl yelled from the back, and the other girls shushed her but never stopped staring at him.

"We are just friends," he cleared his throat, nervously, before trying to walk past the girls, "I have to go. Bye"

He walked into the venue and closed the doors behind him, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

---

Back in the dressing room, Yena had texted Rei, asking her to leave with Chaewon so she could talk to Wonyoung. Rei knew what was going on, so she made up an excuse to leave with her older bandmate, giving Wonyoung quick look before the two friends were left alone.

"Ok, Won, now tell me what you are up to," Yena said.

"What?" Wonyoung looked up from her phone, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You and the walking trash," Yena made a disgusted face.

Wonyoungrolled her eyes, realizing what her friend was talking about, "Please, Unnie."

"No, I'm serious. I want to know what you're up to, because you can't seriously be trying to get back together with him."

"We're not together," the girl went back to scrolling down on her phone, "He was just being nice."

"And you had to start a conversation with him."

"Yes, because he's been texting me lately and it would have been rude to ignore him," Wonyoung shrugged her shoulders.

"You've been texting? Why didn't I know?" Yena crossed her arms, clearly not amused at the new information.

"Unnie, why are you being like this?" Wonyoung said exhaustedly.

"Why?" the older-girl didn't know whether to be angry or confused, "Because he was an idiot and he broke your heart, and then talked about you with the press. That's why!"

"And he apologized and wants to be friends again," Wonyoung stood up, "Don't make a big deal out of this, please."

Yena sighed. She didn't want to argue with her best friend but she was worried about her, too. Wonyoung was too nice and Yena didn't want that boy to get closer to her and break her heart again.

Especially since Yena suspected there was someone else Wonyoung had feelings for. Someone who really cared about Camila.

"Fine," the girl put her hands up and watched her friend leave the dressing room.

She grabbed her stuff and was about to leave when Chaewon and Rei entered the room running.

"Is this a race?" Yena asked, looking at her bandmates who were out of breath, "If it was, then Rei won. Sorry, Smalls."

"No," Chaewon moved her hands, "Rei, show her."

Yena furrowed her eyebrows and took Rei's cellphone. There was a tweet and she read it.

OMG YUJIN AND HER NEW GIRLFRIEND ARE SO CUTE IM DYING!!!

"What?!" Yena looked up and saw her bandmates waiting for her reaction.

"Look at the replies," Rei pointed at the phone, "There's a picture and a video."

Yena opened the picture in the replies and it was blurry but you could see the shadows of two people hugging next to what Yena recognized as their tour bus. She then played the video and again she saw the two shadows hugging and after they separated she heard Yujin's laugh and the gasps of the fans recording the video.

"Did you know Yujin and Hyunseo were." Chaewon started and Rei stopped her.

"Of course they aren't, Chae! Right, Yena-unnie?"

Yena didn't reply but handed Rei her phone before running out of the room. Those tweets were probably spreading through all twitter at that exact moment, and she needed to talk to Yujin before Wonyoung actually saw what people were saying.

Because if Yena was right about Wonyoung's feeling, things were not looking very well for her friend.